You Need to Know About Intel Sandy Bridge

In line with its tick-tock strategy, Intel's latest Sandy Bridge platform (launched at CES 2011) is a major architectural change which promises significant performance improvements. During the official launch in Singapore today, the company demonstrated just how fast the new chipset is by pitting it against an machine sporting the previous-generation Core i7 processor with a similar configuration. While the latter took over 3 minutes to transcode a HD video, the new PC was able to complete the task in a mere 14 seconds.

But is raw power enough reason to dump your old machine and buy a Sandy Bridge PC now? We answer five most frequently asked questions to help you in your decision.

Can I play games on a Sandy Bridge integrated graphics engine?

In the past, Intel integrated graphics (IGP) focused on offering power efficiency over performance. While the previous generation IGP allowed for high-definition video decoding, it offered barely playable frame rates for 3D gaming even on the lowest settings.

Not so for Sandy Bridge IGP. Despite not sporting a discrete graphics card, a Sandy Bridge laptop was able to play the first person shooter title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, on medium settings with acceptable frame rates. This is great news for MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) fans, as power-hungry discrete graphics are no longer a requirement for online raiding.

Will we see Sandy Bridge Netbooks or slate tablets?

It is unlikely to see widespread adoption in this category as Sandy Bridge was designed for laptops and desktops due to its higher thermal design power (though Acer is reportedly work on one). This means it requires better heat dissipation, which can take a toll on battery life. Smaller machine such as slates and minilaptops such as the Samsung Sliding PC 7 will go with the Intel Oak Trail platform which has a lower operating temperature and higher power efficiency.

When should I upgrade my current machine?

The huge performance boost for multimedia transcoding and photo editing makes this a must-have upgrade for film makers and photographers, drastically shortening the time needed to complete essential tasks.

But if you are already using a previous-generation machine with high-end graphics card for gaming, your current PC is still relevant and upgrading is optional. Same with users who only surf the Internet or perform Microsoft Office-related tasks, as the increase in raw power of the new platform is unlikely to be missed.

When will Macs get onto the Sandy Bridge platform?

While Apple does not comment on future products, we can expect the first roll-out of Sandy Bridge-powered Macs to appear in the next few months. This is even more exciting for those eyeing the 13.3-inch MacBooks, which are still based on the older Core 2 Duo processor with Nvidia integrated graphics. The improvement of Intel's IGP may be the push needed for Apple to finally adopt the Core i chipset in its 13.3-inch MacBook Pro or even the MacBook Air lineup.

How do I tell the difference between older Core i machines and new Sandy Bridge PCs?

The older generation Core i desktop and laptop processors sport a three-digit code followed by a suffix (i.e. 520UM), while the Sandy Bridge CPUs use four digits with a suffix (i.e. 2820QM). However, the easiest way to determine whether a desktop or notebook uses the latest Intel technology is to look at the logo as shown below).

Previous-generation Core i sticker.

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Dell Won’t Talk Australian Mobiles Tablets

Internationally, giant PC manufacturer Dell is expanding into Android-based smartphones and tablets left and right. But, at a press conference in Sydney yesterday, the company locally remained unable to confirm when the incoming wave of Dell devices would hit Australian shores.

The topic came up at a press conference in Sydney yesterday on Dell’s expansion into the IT services market, hosted by the vendor’s local managing director Joe Kremer. While — Kremer acknowledged — the US-based computer manufacturer and IT services provider has launched “some unique devices” in the US, China and India, there’s no certainty of when Australian consumers will gain access to the latest Dell devices.
“We plan to offer a range of mobility devices in Australia. We are unable to confirm at this time when we might launch a smart phone in Australia” a Dell spokesperson said in a separate statement.

When confronted by a direct question about a possible indication of time, Kremer said: “I’ll be very surprised if it doesn’t happen at some point this year”.

In Australia, Dell is new to the mobile market. It launched its first Streak mini-tablet and combination smartphone based on Google’s Android system, back in October last year, giving Optus an exclusive three month start with the device. Kremer said he believes the Streak and the new Dell’s smart phones could be competitive in the long run and complement the company’s IT services and manufacturing businesses.
“If I had asked you six years ago ‘do you think people will go to Apple for mobile phones, what would you have said?” Kremer said yesterday.

The executive added that he didn’t believe laptops and desktops would be cannibalised by their portable competitors, even though many manufacturers, such as Samsung, Motorola, Lenovo, ASUS, LG, Acer, Sharp, Fujitsu and Panasonic are developing and launching tablet devices. “I think [for most people] it’s just a lot easier to have a laptop or a desktop and a substantial screen,” he said. “I don’t know that everyone will rush after a change”.

However, Dell is indeed joining the tablet rush. At the last Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, Dell revealed its new Streak 7 tablet. At that time, the company said the device would have been on sale globally. A Dell spokesperson, contacted after the press conference for further details, said the company was planning to introduce a broad range of portable devices in Australia, but couldn’t predict when that might happen.

“We haven’t announced a launch date in Australia for Dell’s 7″ Streak tablet and are unable to speculate when it might be,” they said in a statement. “At this time we are discussing it with the carriers. We have also said we plan to offer a range of mobility devices in Australia”.

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Business Centered Laptop Dell Latitude E6400

Introduction: Most of the company laptops are either a Dell Latitude or a Lenovo ThinkPad, and that’s pretty justified, both these brands are capable performers and are pretty common sight in the cubicles. The reason behind this is the immense capability of these laptops to perform as per the need of medium-to-large businesses.
The Dell Latitude line-up now is getting a much-deserved makeover and the most prominent break from the predictable gray look is the all new black fleecy metal design. The Dell Latitude E6400 that we are reviewing here is among the very few laptops to receive this makeover.



Apart from the external makeover the Dell Latitude E6400 gets its power from Intel’s Centrino 2 platform, and our review unit came loaded with features such as a desktop-speed 7,200rpm hard drive and backlit-keyboard. Our unit was priced at $2,007. Though, just like all the other Dell laptops the starting price for the Latitude e6400 is also pretty moderate and you can get the laptop with a starting price of $1,139, but for anything extra like the Webcam, the fingerprint reader or a fitted modem, you will have to pay extra. This makes the starting price deceptive for most of the consumers, but at the same time it lets you customize the system to an implausible degree.

Technical Specifications:

MSRP: $1,139 to $2,007
Dimensions (W x D x H): 13.1 inches x 9.4 inches x 1.2 inches
Weight: 5.7/6.6 pounds
Memory: 2GB, 667MHz DDR2
Processor: 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400
OS (Operating system): Windows Vista Business
Hard Drive: 160GB 7,200rpm
Screen: 14.1 in
Graphics: Nvidia Quadro NVS 160M
Optical Drive: DVD burner
Data: mini FireWire, 4 USB 2.0, eSATA and SD card reader
Networking: Ethernet, Modem, Bluetooth, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Verizon mobile broadband

Build And Design:

The Dell Latitude E6400 is a brand new E series laptop, which is a tad different in looks from the conventional Latitude looks. The new laptop trades the pointed gray lid for a stridently squared-off design having an industrial brushed metal surface. As a result the laptop has a lot more modern feel and the system meets the need of a modern work laptop that you can frequently carry to your work or to a café. That said, the system doesn’t compromise on its professional look and it still has that professional look, and can also fit in between the high-end designer consumer laptops.

Weighing close to 6 pounds, the Latitude E6400 is comparatively heavier than some of other 14 inch laptops that we’ve reviewed recently, but the stern metal built of the system gives it an impressive dense feel, and makes it look like the system easily could withstand some casual handling.

Screen:

The Dell Latitude E6400 has a 14.1 in wide-screen LCD, offering 1,440 x 900 pixels of native resolution, which is what, is expected from a 14 or 15 inch screens. The screen here is an LED backlit display, which is lighter, thinner and makes use of comparatively less power than the conventional laptop screens, but at the same time Dell offers a non-LED 1,280 x 800-pixel resolution alternative, which cuts down the price of the system by $129 off the price.

Performance:

As far as performance is concerned, we won’t say that the Dell Latitude E6400 is the best performing laptop at present, but yes, during our testing we had no problems in working on office documents, surfing the internet and playing back the media files at the same time. Though the system is not meant for gaming (who plays on a work laptop?), but the 256MB Nvidia Quadro NVS 160M GPU should be sufficient for the intense graphics work, and at the same time should eke out a hardly playable 16.8 fps (frames per second) at  1,280 x 800 pixel resolution in Unreal Tournament 3.

Battery:

Dell Latitude E6400 comes with a promise of 19 hrs of battery if you combine the nine cell battery with the optional 12 cell “battery slice”, which simply is a huge battery which fits completely at the bottom of the system. Though, with the 9 cell battery alone we got battery timing of 4 hrs and 27 mins during our video playback battery draining test. So the battery life of the system is sufficient for the on the go workers and it wont hamper their productivity.

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Toshiba 3D Dynabook Laptop Unveiled To Hit Japanese Market

The gizmo world is witnessing a time, which could be known as the 3D era. It seems like everything made is going 3-D. Laptops are no exception. Toshiba has announced their latest and much innovative product 3D-enabled laptop and has named it the Dynabook T551/D8B.


Boasting of many remarkable features to its credit, the Dynabook obviously has a 3-D display – yes, glasses are required to view the images in 3-D. The Dynabook comes with a 15.6-inch screen of 1,366 x 768 resolution and offers Blu-ray drive which is 3D-compatible as well. The device runs on a core i7-2630QM (2GHz) CPU.

The notebook boasts of a 1 GB Nvidia GeForce GT 540M graphics card and runs on Intel’s HM65 Express chipset. Storage options include 8GB memory and 750GB HDD.

On the connectivity front, the device includes one USB 3.0 port, three USB 2.0 ports, and one HDMI interface. The laptop has been incorporated with a 0.3MP web cam. It offers support for Gigabit Ethernet as well as Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b/g/n. The 3D-enabled notebook is compatible with Windows 7 Home Premium (64bit) plus Office Home and Business 2010.

Toshiba dynabook T551/D8B will hit the Japanese markets next month with a price tag that reads $2,540.

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